


Friendly Competition

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Series: Femslash February 2020 [21]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Hubert being a bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22892752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: Even if you love them dearly, there is nothing worse than losing to someone you love.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Leonie Pinelli
Series: Femslash February 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620421
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Friendly Competition

It wasn’t often that this sort of thing happened. They were in different classes, so this sort of thing was to be expected. Though this wasn’t something she thought was going to be a problem. 

About a week ago, Seteth made an announcement alongside the professors. Good deeds and other good behaviours were going to be rewarded with gold stars on a board for all three classes to see. The total stars for each class would be shown at the top next to their class name. There wasn’t a prize for winning, but the bragging rights of being the best class. 

It was such a silly little game that was started, but surprisingly effective. The day it went up, she caught Hubie in the library sorting books, Caspar running all sorts of errands for the knights, and Ferdie was trying so hard to catch up to Edie. Petra was helping in the stables, and she was certain Professor Manuella gave Bernie a star just for coming to class. So far the only one that had no stars was Lin, but that was hardly a surprise. 

She was staring at the star board, and was amazed at all the stars that were up there already. All the classes seemed fairly even when it came to stars. Even with no prize, it’s amazing how competitive some of the other students got. She had to wonder if they knew just how effective this was going to be. 

“Wow, wouldn’t have expected this many stars to have been given out already.” Leonie remarked, walking up beside her. 

“Well the monastery looks better than it ever had, so I’m not all that surprised. I’d give out lots of gold stars if my students were working this hard.” Though that being said, Professor Manuella was pretty generous with her stars. She’d worry about the bias if it weren’t for the fact all students really benefited from it. 

Leonie went silent for a moment, and her brow furrowed. She had nothing to worry about, because her class managed to avoid having a Lin or a Sylvain. Lorenz might’ve been a concern but he cleaned up his act right away once the contest started. Even Hilda had a few stars. 

“You have twelve stars?” She asked, brow still very furrowed. 

“Yeah?” They were both looking at her name. She had been helping clean the classrooms after class and brought Bernie her notes from the classes she missed. She had done it a few times, so she had a few stars. 

“No way, I only have eleven.” 

“Huh, so you do.” That was understandable. There were a lot fewer jobs to do now that everyone was trying to get stars. Dorothea was lucky that they could take some of Lin’s jobs.

Leonie hummed in annoyance as she looked between the two star boards. 

“Don’t let this get to your head. You may be my girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna go easy on you.” She couldn’t help but smirk at that. But before she could say anything, Leonie was off. It was cute that she was getting so riled up over this. Maybe she’d have to put in a little extra effort to keep her lead. 

But she didn’t think much about it until the next morning. The stars were a fun little game, but not something she put much thought into. She was getting enough so Edie didn’t get upset, and that was enough for her. If they started to fall behind by too much, she’d start putting in more effort because they were all going to get a talking to about it. 

That all changed the second she got in front of that board and checked the results. It boiled her blood a little to see it. She had moved up to fourteen, but Leonie had moved up to seventeen. There were plenty of people that were ahead of her. The house leaders all had a lot, which was a given, then there were Hubie and Dedue who were trying hard so that their leaders would win, and Ferdie and Lorenz both had something to prove for themselves. But there was something that set her off about seeing Leonie doing better than her. 

“Good morning, Dorothea.” Leonie gave her a little peck on the cheek. “Sorry I’d love to stay around and chat more, but I’ve gotta get over to the armory to see what repairs need to be done.” 

This was deliberate. Leonie was here to point out how she was in the lead now. She watched her as she walked off to earn more gold stars. Well if this was the game Leonie wanted to play, then Dorothea was going to show her what she could do. This was war now. 

Her first stop was her classroom. She’d get to cleaning it up, and then before class she’d start mapping out her next plan of attack. She had been told time and time again that the best strategies were ones made ahead of time and stuck to. There’d be room for error, but in most cases it was best to stick to the plan. She’d map out the best route to make the best use out of her time. If she worked in a big circle, then she’d be able to cover more ground faster. The more stars she got, the better her odds were at beating Leonie. She loved her dearly, but she was under no circumstances allowed to win. 

Class got significantly harder. Because in addition to planning her next task, she also had to be in the moment enough to be a good student in class. Answering questions and asking questions were a great way to earn star points. Sticking only to cleaning and weeding would make her miss out on so many great possibilities. Class was also the perfect spot to earn star points. 

Around lunchtime, she spotted Leonie on her way to the dining hall. She looked probably about as good as she did. With all the jobs she had tried to fit in, she was exhausted. She had gotten her star points though, and that was really all that mattered. 

“Oh hey Leonie. You’re looking a little tired. Maybe you should take a break.” It was just as much out of concern as it was so that she’d have better odds of passing her and maintaining her advantage. 

“Me? Tired? Please, this is little more than training. I’m actually on my way to the market to pick up supplies. You’re the one that looks like she should rest.” Oh absolutely not. A moment that she spent resting would be precious time lost between now and the end of the day where Leonie could get ahead of her. And that was not going to happen. 

“Don’t worry about me, I’m going to have a nice relaxing time picking weeds around the monastery.” She was going to sit down and have a nice lunch, but if Leonie was out doing chores and earning stars, she was going to have to pass. She could eat later. 

“Okay, so I’ll catch up with you later then.” She was going to have to think of something else to do. Weeding was no match for something like doing a run to the market. There were so many things you could get there and could easily do things worth star points. 

Leonie left, and Dorothea went off to do her weeding. While she’d work, she’d have to think of something else she could do between now and class. She could no doubt do something else after this. 

Though as the day went on, she was starting to notice something. The possible jobs were getting fewer and fewer. She had seen other students putting in just as much effort as she was, and she wasn’t sure if they were aware that she had to have more stars than her girlfriend. Them trying to get more stars than the other classes shouldn’t be her problem. 

Yet now everywhere she turned, there was someone cleaning. How was she going to beat Leonie in these conditions? There just weren’t enough jobs for her to do. For the briefest moment, the thought of making a mess so she could clean it went through her head. Though she knew that those stars would be hollow. If she was going to win she wasn’t going to do it by cheating. 

“Ah, Lady Edelgard. I was hoping that you might come and assist me in organizing the library. It’s a disaster.” She overheard Hubie offer. She had cleaned the library this morning. What did he mean that it was a mess? She would ask him, but she was going to find out for herself. She knew better than to expect the truth from him. Besides if he wanted to clean it so badly, then he wouldn’t have said it so loudly for everyone to hear. 

Her jaw practically hit the floor when she saw the library. It was like every book had been taken from its shelf and thrown to the floor. It looked so pristine like an hour ago when she was here. Professor Manuella had given her that star and everything. It wasn’t exactly hard since someone had cleaned it yesterday, but she still put in the time to do it. It pissed her off about as much as it the idea of Leonie beating her. 

“Excuse me, Dorathea. But Lady Edelgard and I were going to work on cleaning the library. It’s been left in quite a state and we can’t let this continue on. You’re already leading the class in stars, so you won’t mind if we put the work in to close the gap?” Hubie leaned over her, like he could intimidate her. Even if he could she was too livid for it to work right now. 

“What did you do to the library? I was in here like an hour ago and it was perfect when I left.” She might’ve been above dirty tactics like this, but she knew Hubert wasn’t. 

“Those are some lofty accusations. Many students pass by here daily. Perhaps Caspar was here looking for a book for Linhardt, perhaps Claude also stopped by and dropped books as he carried them back to his room. It’s such a shame to see lituarture be treated so carelessly.” Hubie fake mused. Edie fortunately was on her side, as she watched her face crinkle. 

“So to get me ahead in the competition, you ruined one of our classmate’s work? If I’m going to win this, I want it to be from my own merit, Hubert. Because now I’m cleaning up your mess.” That must’ve stung, seeing as he was her advisor. 

“It does not look good that you are falling behind. I simply aided you.” Hubie bowed, being remorseless for what he had done. 

“And what good will my win be if it’s on the back of lies? It would be completely meaningless. I’d be no better than the scum I wish to remove when I take my throne.” Yet Hubie seemed to remain unbothered by it. 

“As you wish, Lady Edelgard. Dorothea, you may leave. This mess can be handled by the two of us.”

“You just want me to leave so I don’t get anymore stars. After all the effort I put into cleaning it this morning!” It wasn’t all that much effort, but it was the principle of the matter. Besides, she had a battle of her own to win. 

“Correct. You have already done this task, so allow Lady Edelgard and I to clean it.” 

“I just told you, I want my victory to be earned. I don’t need you to fight my battles, Hubert.” 

This was getting nowhere. She might as well get started, because now it was going to be a lot of effort. Not to mention a lot of time. 

“Put those books down. They are of none of your concern.” 

“You’re not the boss of me, Hubie.” And just what did he intend to do about this. He looked back at her, as she watched him plot something. 

“Very well. You both may start. I will go see if there’s any books I may return for other students.” Hubert turned and left the library, disappearing down the hallway. 

They both looked at the enormous mess. Dorothea had picked some books up, but even with them in her hands she still had no idea if this was really the place to start. There was just so much of it. 

“I guess we should sort them into piles before we put them back, right?” She looked to Edie. She was younger than her, but she was her house leader. 

“I suppose. Hubert certainly made a fine mess of this place.” That was an understatement. Dorothea wasn’t even sure if there was a bit of uncovered floor here. 

“Was he hoping the bigger the mess he made the more stars you could earn? Because someone would’ve had to have seen the mess before it was cleaned up.” He certainly wasn’t one to do things half way, huh. 

“Though with how long it’s going to take us to clean, I doubt that we’re not going to have someone see us cleaning.” That was also a good point. 

Though now that it was started, it didn’t feel like it was going to take that long. The books didn’t migrate too far from the shelves they were taken from. Dorothea could tell that this was a task meant for Edie to do. 

Just as Edie had predicted, it wasn’t too long before she heard footsteps. It could be Hubie, but there were a lot of people to track down. He was efficient, but he was nowhere near that fast unless he was breaking into students' rooms. Now that she had thought about it, it didn’t seem all that far fetched for Hubie. 

“I can’t believe you’d do such a thing, Dorothea! I didn’t want to believe him, yet here you are in the middle of a big fake mess. All of this only had meaning because you were putting in just as much effort as I was. And here you are making messes of your own to clean up!” Leonie stormed into the room. That was not the person, nor the tone she was expecting. At least not the tone towards her. 

“Dorothea didn’t make this mess. Hubert made it for me against my wishes. He was the one that told you, wasn’t he.” Edie stepped in, saving the day. Dorothea was still trying to catch the words that were being thrown at her. How many times has Edie had to do this. 

“He said that he caught you in the act, and that he normally wouldn’t care, but it was making you lose so he stepped in.” 

“I just overheard him telling Edie about the mess in the library, and I wanted to see the state of it because I just cleaned it before lunch.” She could pull her plan out of her bag. It was a poorly drawn map covered in circles and arrows, but she figured it would be enough to prove her innocence. “See? I was going to weed then head to the greenhouse then to the cathedral.” 

Leonie went silent as she read the map. It was barely comprehensible, but Dorothea had the benefit of having made it this morning. It would be useless by tomorrow but she would’ve had a better idea of what to do by then. But as illegible as it was, there were traces of coherent thoughts. 

“Man, I guess I kinda jumped to conclusions about all this.” Leonie bashfully rubbed the back of her head. 

“It’s fine. I think that this competition is just bringing out the worst in us.” She wasn’t much better. She would’ve done the same thing in her shoes. Who knew that she had this bad of a competitive streak?

“Yeah, I could probably take it back a few notches.”

“What is the meaning of all this.” She had been so caught up in all this, that she didn’t even hear someone coming. And Seteth was someone that was hard to miss. Every time she had seen him move it was with so much purpose. 

“There has been an incident. One of my classmates had made a mess of the library without my knowledge for the intended purpose of creating more tasks for stars. As house leader, I have taken the responsibility to clean his mess, and I have already personally reprimanded him. Dorothea is here to assist me in cleaning the mess.” She really hoped that Edie knew she really narrowed down the candidates as to who it could be. There was really only two people that it could be, and the culprit probably was responsible for tattling to Seteth about all this. 

Seteth sighed and pinched his brow. 

“This is the third incident I have been made aware of. First Ingrid trying to have the most stars was fabricating situations for herself to solve, then Hilda trying to make messes with minimal effort to clean to get more stars, and now this. This has been a resounding failure. I tried to motivate all of you to be better people, yet I have failed miserably as the stars seemed to be the only thing that mattered, not the fact that you were doing good deeds.” She felt kinda bad for him. He seemed legitimately upset about the way this whole thing. “Effective immediately, the school wide star program is canceled.”

Her and Leonie locked eyes. They both knew it was fruitless to fight it, so they ran as fast as they could back to the classrooms to see the final totals. One of them ended up winning their private competition, and they had to know who it was. It was completely irrelevant to what it was actually about, and she knew that getting there faster wouldn’t change the standings at all. But that didn’t matter. The sooner she knew, the better. 

Once they got there, they were both out of breath. It was a sprint that neither of them were prepared for, and she was certain that on top of that, that neither of them had eaten since at least breakfast. Her eyes scanned the chart. Even if they weren’t being timed, she had to know.

Dorothea: 24

Leonie: 24

They had run this whole way, and in the end they both lost. It was weird, but Dorothea couldn’t help but laugh. There was nothing to laugh about, but she couldn’t help but laugh. Leonie must’ve been in the same weird place as she was, because she started laughing too. 

“Man, even after all that work, we ended up in a tie.” She had made a work map to beat her and everything. And it didn’t even get her the win. 

“Well if there’s anyone I had to lose with, I’m glad it’s you.” 

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”


End file.
